In your bag No: 1493 – Chuck Johnson

Chuck brings us a very strong bag today. A compact camera lovers bag for classic and modern. What more could you wish for? Check it out.

I’m a musician by profession, but I appreciate shooting photos as a creative endeavor I can do for the pure FUN of it. I first caught the bug way back in my teens, when I would carry around my beloved Minolta X-700 and develop and print in the high school darkroom. I recently found an unprocessed roll of film shot on the X-700 around 18 years ago – 3200 speed that was somehow left in a drawer! The photos actually came out fine and brought back a lot of memories.

I tour frequently (often by air) and I appreciate compact equipment and I experience a subtle giddiness when I can achieve a tight pack, with all of the essentials and nothing more. But as a musician and studio owner I am also prone to bouts of G.A.S., so my personal rule with photography gear is that whatever doesn’t fit in my petite Domke F-8 bag must fit in a small shoebox. That seems to put reasonable constraints on the footprint and the budget (although I recently acquired a scanner so I may be breaking the rule at this point.)

This is my pack when I want maximum options in a small package, and I doubt there is anything here that your readers aren’t already familiar with. As I am recently bitten by the film bug again – especially the rangefinder strain – I have the awesome little Olympus XA loaded with color film (that camera goes with me everywhere lately) and the the Canon QL17 (2nd revision) loaded with black and white. I’m keeping things flexible with 400 speed all around, but I’m still experimenting with film brands. Not seen is a Canon Sure Shot A1 underwater point and shoot that I found for $20 in a local ad the day before a holiday in Maui last month. The Fuji Pro 400 scans from that little camera really look amazing! The Gorillapod doesn’t actually go inside the bag but is often wrapped around the shoulder strap. The compact Lumix GX-85 handles digital instant gratification with a simple selection of fun/fast primes – Oly 45mm/1.8, Lumix 20mm/1.7 pancake, and a vintage Meyer Optik Pentacon 50/1.8. Between the QL17 and the Lumix, 40mm is quickly becoming my ideal focal length. The cloth eyeglass case lets me swap out sunglasses and eyeglasses and doubles a lens cleaner. Probably less familiar for your readers: a couple of spare blue herco guitar thumbpicks. I find it helps to stash those everywhere so I am never without one at a gig.

Thanks for reading, and thanks to Bellamy and all the contributors for making this site such an amazing resource!

Thanks for sharing your bag with us, Chuck. A lovely and practical setup you have there.

Keep them coming folks, we need more submissions, so get your bag on Japancamerahunter.comSend me a high resolution image of the bag. Optimum size is 1500px across. Please ensure there is a bag in the shot, unless you don’t use one. The more you can write about yourself the better, make it appealing and tell us a story. Snapshots of your gear with a camera phone and no words will not be featured.Oh and don’t forget your contact details (twitter, flickr, tumbler et al). Send the bag shots here. Please understand that there is a long wait now as there is a backlog of submissions. Not all make the cut, so make sure yours is funny/interesting/quirky. And please make sure the shot is of good quality, as the ones that are not do not go up.

About The Author

Camera hunter, photographer, camera geek, Tokyoite and Englishman all rolled into one gracefully balding package. I have been living and working in Tokyo for 14 years now and it is my home. Tokyo is heaven for cameras and I know the secret spots and special places.
Let me be your 'camera enabler'.

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1 Comment

Dave on June 28, 2017 at 1:18 am

Hey Chuck, awesome bag, we have a similar style. I’m also a musician (guitarist) and do photography/videography as a hobby but lately I’m enjoying it more than guitar playing. I like the mixture of digital and analog cameras (same for me, I also carry 2 analog and 1 digital). I guess I need to send in some pics as prove, right? :P